Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about delays in the renewal of his Private Hire Vehicle Licence. It is unlikely we would find Authority fault has directly caused him an injustice.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that Transport for London (TfL) unnecessarily delayed renewing his Private Hire Vehicle Licence (PHVL) causing him to lose one week’s work.
2. Mr X says this caused him financial loss and stress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Authority.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X received a renewal pack for his PHVL in June 2024, his current licence was due to expire in October 2024.
7. Mr X returned the renewal form in August 2024.
8. In August, TfL requested further information as part of Mr X’s renewal application. This included a Safety, Equality and Regulatory Understanding Assessment and additional medical information.
9. Mr X sent back this information in September 2024 and October 2024.
10. TfL issued Mr X with his licence in November 2024.
11. Mr X says this was one week after his previous licence expired meaning he was unable to work and he lost £900 in earnings.
12. TfL guidance on licence applications advises that applications can take up to 16 weeks and any delays in submission of a renewal may affect assessment timescales and ability to trade.
13. Licencing decisions are at the discretion of the licensing authority so we can only look at the process followed.
14. If Mr X had responded to the renewal application when it was sent to him in June 2024, it would be likely that, given the same time frame, he would have received the renewed licence before his other expired. We are unlikely to say the one-week gap in his licence was directly because of the Authority’s fault.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint as it is unlikely we could say his injustice is a direct consequence of Authority fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman